cynicaltrilobite's reviews
93 reviews

"Man, fuck them kids" ~ What Billy Bang presumably scrawled all over the walls when he gets back. 

I didn't quite jive with this at first. A lot of it seemed shocking for the sake of shock, but the more that it went on, the more I became engrossed in these characters. Bar none, my favorite was Margaret. She could be an absolutely brutal and cruel woman, but you really do get the sense that she cares about her little group in that tough love kind of way. I also just love the idea of her, almost completely naked, draped in a bathrobe, and taking motherfuckers out with a shovel. 

I think the biggest surprise of the whole thing was how Johnny Peacock evolved from being a main POV that I simply tolerated to being extremely invested in. Though.... there may be a reason for that. Spoilers. 

The children were absolutely wonderful antagonists, and you wanted so badly for the little bastards to get what was coming to them. Alas, it's not meant to be. I also really appreciate how their power is so expertly shown off and it helps explain why they've kept this up so long. If you can charm a huge room full of people to throw themselves at adult vampires, well, killing a couple hundred folks and keeping it under wraps is no problem. 

I won't say anymore about this as to do so would really ruin the overall experience and the huge twist. Just be aware that when you read this, it has damned near every trigger warning you can think of. These vampires are gross and not nice.

Wild that this is the third horror book I've read in a span of two months that has had parrots be a plot point.

On a scale of 1-This Fucking Family, how badly do you handle grief?

This is one of those books where I get why a lot of people liked it, but I simply didn't. It was well written with some absolutely killer imagery and a strong undercurrent of emotion. I just think that the story went in a direction that I was not a fan of. 

I really quite liked all the bits with Monstrilio himself. He was a really fun character, while still undoubtedly being a monster and something I'd probably kill with a shovel. The story really lost interest for me when he took on his humanoid form for the second half of the book. M, as he's referred to now, goes about being autism coded, having kinky sex, and then inevitably falling off the horse and killing a person. His family continuously protects him and helps him hide his murders and it was about the time that they were fleeing Germany that I really started just scratching my head and asking what exactly we were doing here. 

Specifically, what's the message the author is trying to convey here? Because it was a hell of a choice to make Monstrilio transform into a young autistic gay man and then have him predatorily hunger after other men. Like, i guess it was nice his family supported him through all that, but sheesh... 

Speaking of the family, Magos and Joseph were just the worst. I found Magos to be insufferable, pretentious, and stubborn to a fault, and Joseph had no spine to speak of and continously lied to his fiance. I think the only family member I really enjoyed was Uncle Luke, just due to how absolutely balls to the wall he was in supporting M's habits. Dude's like, "Yeah, sometimes you get the urge to kill people. It's what ya do." 

I've thought about ending this on something pithy, but nothing will come to me. I simply wasn't a fan of this.

Where's the SCP Foundation when you need it?

This is one of those books where there's parts of it I really really like and parts that make me go, "Oh my God, that's so stupid." So, let's start with the positives. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Madeline, even though they could all be infuriating at times. I guess that makes this very relatable and human, though. Humans make mistakes, have flaws, and don't act perfectly rational in survival situations. 

I also loved the Watchers themselves. Though they do somewhat fit into the tall, spindly thing trope, their lore and motivations really make them compelling antagonists. 

So, complaining time. And I'm going to bullet point this because my thoughts are a scosh scattered. Most of them relate to that bunker, though. 

• First things first, why does the government not have this place completely cut off? There should not be a road that you can drive down to get to the spooky murder woods where people regularly go missing. I know that there's no story if something like this was in place, but come on. A huge section of forest land where people regularly go missing around and the government is just like "Yeah, fuck it I guess." 

• How does the tech killing thing work? Is it a perimeter but not the whole thing? Because we know electrical equipment /can/ work inside, but I guess you have to walk it in past a certain point first? 

• How did this historian manage to make this damned bunker? We know that he hired out multiple crews to build his little bunker, set the electrical wiring, install the glass, and especially dig the pit the bunker is in. It's implied he let them die each night he hired them. How many damned people did this dude hire and let kill? Why does no one become suspicious of this? Where are the families of these workers? 

• On that note, how did Madeline cover up the entrance to the bunker? Did the professor leave several bags of concrete behind?

• How did the professor hide a boat and oar and then make it back to the bunker in time for sundown? It's implied that it takes a full days walk to reach the river, and this dude managed to get down there, hide a boat, and get back in time for the Watchers to not find him? 

• The "fey in society" thing isn't handled exceedingly well, I think. Why would they be targeting Mina? It's sort of a Streisand Effect thing. These women are not going to say a word, and if they do, they'll be regarded as crazy. Why make a huge deal of killing them? Just leave it. 

All in all, I probably won't seek out the sequel, but I don't regret taking this book in. Even if the whole of the problems could be avoided with some well placed "Road Closed" signs.

Top 10 Reasons to Never Go to Paris

I am absolutely in love with this series. I firmly believe that Shaw's biggest strength as a writer comes from her ability to write characters. Every one of them has such life and personality and even the ones you don't like as much (Corvin you motherfucker). Greta seems to have more character herself in this sequel and I really enjoyed how she takes charge of the shitty situation she finds herself in and manages to escape it. 

As awful as they are, Corvin and his coven are absolutely wonderful villains. Shaw achieves the very difficult task of making fun antagonists that I was also chomping at the bit to see get their comeuppance. Also, fantastic work in making me feel bad for the train wreck that was Lillith. 

My biggest complaint about the last book was fixed as well! Varney is a much stronger character this go around, and I can actually understand why he and Greta gravitate towards one another. Also, lord in mercy Varney on the airplane was hysterical. The fact that he ends the story as a humble monster sanctuary owner is just *chefs kiss.* 

I could really keep gushing about every character and how well written they are, but I think that'd make this review essay length. Instead, I'm going to gush about how the tone just works so well for these. One of my main complaints I've had for other "cozy" books I've read is that the stakes feel very small or artificial. It's hard to make a story that's super warm and feel good while also putting characters in terrible danger. Shaw threads this needle absolutely wonderfully. 

I think my only complaint would be that the Phantom of the Opera stuff was kinda weird and a bit out of place. Otherwise, absolutely no notes, and I wish I could breed hair monsters on country estate with my vampire boyfriend.